Robert Pattinson has told how shooting his new movie in the Australian Outback made him realise his anonymity is priceless.

The 28-year-old actor is a paparazzi and fan favourite at home in the UK and in America, thanks to his Twilight fame and former relationship with his co-star Kristen Stewart, but he said life was quieter when he was making The Rover in the Aussie wilderness.

"It was incredibly peaceful," he said.

"You really realise the value of your anonymity again, and how priceless it is."

"But also, it was an unusual place as well," added the actor. "There was a mysticism to the area. It's not like being out in nothingness; there's an intensity to it."

The Rover is se t in a dystopian world a decade after global economic collapse, and sees R-Patz play Rey, a petty criminal who is wounded in a botched heist as his fellow gang members make off in a stolen car. The car's owner Eric (Guy Pearce), is determined to get his only remaining possession back, and forces simple-minded Rey to join him and help hunt down the gang.

Robert said he loved working with the "amazing" Guy.

He added: "Neither one of us knew exactly what the movie was about when we started, and so we were kind of figuring it out. It's not like one of us had a really set idea of how to do something and clashed with the other person. We were really trying to find it together, which doesn't happen that often."

Discussing how indie films compare with blockbusters like Twilight, Robert admitted The Rover was "an extreme one", with the cast sleeping in makeshift accommodation on location.

"When you have a big budget, it creates expectations of how you're supposed to be treated as an actor. And when you're there [in the outback], there is literally no other option than staying in the shipping container," he explained.

"It's kind of nice. Everyone's on a totally equal footing, and it doesn't give your vanity a chance to take hold."